Peter P. Belz Jr., a retired U.S. Treasury Department appeals officer, died March 14 of pancreatic cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 71.

The son of a die maker and a homemaker, Peter Paul Belz Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on Keswick Road in Hampden.

After graduating in 1959 from Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting in 1963 from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

Mr. Belz began his career in 1963 as an Internal Revenue Service agent in the audit office and later was promoted to a field agent.

Mr. Belz, who spent his entire career in Baltimore, was an appeals officer at the time of his 2001 retirement.

"He would never tell people until recent years that he had been an IRS agent, because if we were at a party, people would start telling him all kinds of horror stories," said his high school sweetheart and wife of 49 years, the former Shirley Cooney.

Mr. Belz's father had been one of the founders of the Cresmont Social Club in Remington. When the Colts came to Baltimore in 1953, his father and other club members became season ticket holders.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the Colts players, Johnny Unitas, Artie Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Alan Ameche and others, would often visit the club offseason," said Mrs. Belz. "Pete's love of football was later transferred to the Ravens, and he was thrilled to watch their victory in the 2013 Super Bowl."

He was a longtime resident of Beech Avenue in Wyman Park. He also maintained a second home at Sea Terrace Condominium in Ocean City.

Mr. Belz had amassed an enormous collection of records, and his musical tastes ranged from classical to swing, big band, golden oldies, jazz and Irish music, his wife said.

Mr. Belz was a communicant of St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church, West 37th Street and Roland Avenue, Hampden, where a memorial Mass will be offered at noon April 13.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Belz is survived by two sons, Peter P. Belz III of Marietta, Pa., and Joseph V. Belz of Baltimore; a daughter, Mary Beth Belz of Baltimore; and six grandchildren.